Method of making nail-coating blanks



Sept. 25, 1956 B. BOGOSLOWSKY 2,764,166

METHOD OF MAKING NAIL-COATING BLANKS Original Filed Aug. 3, 1949 INVENTOR Borg Boyoslowsky ATTORNEYS United States Patent METHOD OF MAKING NAIL-COATING BLANKS Boris Bogoslowsky, Jackson Heights, N. Y.; Elizabeth Bogoslowsky, executrix of the estate of Boris Bogoslowsky, deceased Original application August 3, 1949, Serial No. 108,267, now Patent No. 2,688,331, dated September 7, 1954. Divided and this application January 19, 1954, Serial No. 405,893

1 Claim. (Cl. 132-73) This invention relates to the coating of human fingernails and toenails and more particularly to a novel nail coating blank and dispensing assembly therefor as well as to a method of making the dispensing assembly. This application is a division of my prior application Serial No. 108,267 filed August 3, 1949, now Patent No. 2,688,331, dated September 7, 1954.

The conventional method of coating human nails involves applying thereto a lacquer comprising a dispersion of a pigment and suitable resin in a volatile solvent, and permitting the solvent to evaporate to leave a lustrous coating on the nail. This conventional method, although widely used, is subject to a number of disadvantages. The lacquer is normally applied with a small brush and considerable care is required to make sure that the lacquer is applied to all parts of the nail and only to the nail. Thus the application of a lacquer requires an excessive amount of time. Also time is required to permit the solvent of the lacquer to evaporate and during this drying period the user must be careful to avoid bringing the coated nail in contact with an object that would cause the coating to be smeared.

A further objection to the lacquer coating is that it is somewhat brittle and tends to chip and break off, thereby spoiling the desired decorative effect and presenting an untidy appearance. Also since the lacquer contains a volatile solvent its consistency varies over a period of time and hence it is ditficult to maintain the proper consistency for application to the nails. Moreover, the lacquers commonly used are only moderately resistant to the action of detergents and tend to washed in a relatively short period of time. In many cases the lacquer washes off irregularly to produce exposed portions of the nail that present an unsightly appearance.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved nail coating that may be easily and conveniently applied to a human fingernail. It is' a further object of the invention to provide a nail coating of this type that is highly resistant to the action of the commonly used detergents. It is still another object of the invention to provide a nail coating which will not crack, chip or flake off and will retain its lustrous appearance for an indefinite period of time. It is a still further object of the invention to provide a nail coating that is applied in solid form in the absence of a solvent and hence cannot smear and does not require a period of time for solvent evaporation. It is a still further object of the invention to provide a nail coating which is superior in appearance and gloss and more evenly dis tributed over the nail than coatings heretofore used. It is still another object of the invention to provide a nail coating, the exposed surface of which can carry a picture, design or the like. It is still another object of the invention to provide a convenient dispensing assembly for such a nail coating blank. It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel method of making such a nail coating assembly that is adapted to be used in the ice mass production of such assemblies. Other objects of the invention will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereafter.

The many objects and advantages of the present invention may be best understood and appreciated by reference to the accompanying drawing which discloses a nail-coating blank and dispensing assembly therefor as well as illustrating the method of making the dispensing assembly.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a nail-coating: blank;

Figure 2 is an enlarged section through the blank taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a finger with the blank of Figure 1 applied to the nail thereof;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 illustrating the manner in which the portion of the blank that overhangs the end of fingernail may be removed;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a dispensing assembly for the blank of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a View similar to Figure 5 illustrating the manner in which the nail-coating blank is removed from its support for application to a fingernail;

Figure 7 is a section through the assembly of Figure 5, taken on the line 77 of Figure 5 and showing the way in which the nail coating blank is aifixed to its support;

Figure 8 is a perspective view illustrating a step in the making of the assembly of Figure 5 and showing the manner in which the nail-coating strip and supporting strip are assembled;

Figure 9 is a perspective view similar to Figure 8, indicating the manner in which the assemblies are cut from the nail-coating and supporting strips.

Referring first to Figures 1 and 2, the nail coating blank 10 comprises a thin flexible piece of a water-resistant material such as the plastic film 11 which has a layer 12 of a suitable pressure-sensitive adhesive on one surface thereof. As shown inFigure 1, the blank 10 has the substantially parallel side edges 14 and 16 and a curved end 18 that is curved to conform with the curvature of the cuticle or base of a human nail. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a portion of the end 17 of the blank is left uncoated by adhesive to form a flap by means of which the blank may be manually grasped without grasp= ing the adhesive 12. The flap 17 facilitates removal of the blank from its support as described below and also facilitates handling of the blank as it is being applied to the nail.

Referring to Figure 3, :the blank 10 is applied to the fingernail by placing the curved end 18 adjacent to the cuticle or base of the fingernail with the pressure sensi-' tive adhesive 12 adjacent to the fingernail and exerting a light pressure on the plastic blank to cause it to adhere to the fingernail. The length of the blank 10 is such that a portion 20 thereof, including the flap 17, overhangs the end of the fingernail. As shown in Figure 4, the overhanging portion 20 of the blank may be readily removed by bending i-t downwardly over the end of the nail and drawing the file 22 across that portion of the blank which bends over the end of the mail. The filing of the end of the fingernail completely detaches the overhanging portion 20 of the blank and the remainder of the blank is thus precisely fitted to the fingernail and firmly secured thereto.

The properties of the film used in forming the blank 10 are important since they largely determine the characteristics of the coating when the blank is applied to a nail. Thus the film 11 is preferably formed of a plastic as described, but may also be made of a metal foil of a suitable metal such as copper, aluminum and the like. The

arouse film. is preferably made quite thin, say of the order of 0,0005, inch. to, 0.003 inch. It is also desirablewhere, a,

plastic is used that the plastic be strong and tough as well as highly resistant to the action of water and alkalies. I have. found that the blanks. made: fromafilinwof a rubber. hydrochloride, such asifor example, that soldunder, the trade namepliofilm, form particularly satisfactory nail Coatings, although thin sheets of other. resins such as a copolymer of. vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate sold under the-trade name V-inylite, the vinylfvinylidene chloride resin sold under'ithe trade. name Oriented Saran and the polyamide resinsold'under, the tradefname Nylon may also be used. The resin may or may not be plasticized. The plastics specifically mentioned are those that have been found; to combine in large measure the desirable properties for; this. application, and it is apparent that many other plastics which are capable of forming lustrous fijlmsibutz-may be, inferior to the, above-mentioned plastics in other respects could alsobe. formed into blanks such as; those-described herein. Also, as indicated, metal foils maybe used.

The film 11 may be either pigmented or clear as described and if pigmented may be of any desired color. Moreover, the exposed surface ofthe plastic may have printed or otherwise applied 'theretoa picture, design or the like.

As previously pointed out, the film 11 has applied to one surface thereof a pressure-sensitive adhesive 12. which is: preferably waterproof and may have any of various compositions known in the art, One satisfactory adhesive for this purpose comprises 10 parts by weight of crepe rubber, 2 parts by weight of curnarone-indene resin, and (LSpart by weight of zinc oxide. However, this adhesive is given merely as an illustration and. other known pres'sure sensit ive adhesives may be substituted therefor.

Referring now to Figures 7, a convenient dispensing assemblyfor the blank of Figures, 1 and 2 is shown in these figures. The dispensing assembly comprises the blank 10, the adhesive surface of which is afiixed to a support 24 having a configuration similar to that of the blank. The support 24. may bemade of a thin piece of a plastic such as polyethylene, or of another material such as glassine paper to which the blank may be made to adherelightly and from which it is readily removable Without removalcot the adhesive from the plastic layer of theblanlc. When. the adhesive layer 121has the illustrativecompositiondescribed. above, it has been found that the: support 24- may be desirably made of polyethylene.

Asashown in Figures 5-7, the support 24; extends beyond the. flapc1 7 of the-blank to form a flap 26. When it5is-deSi ed toapply the, nail coating blank to a fingernail or toenail the flap 26 of the support 24 and the flap 17 of the; blank 10 are manually grasped and'the iblank pulled from its support. tofacilitateseparation ofjtheblank'from its support.

Figures 8 and 9 illustrate a novel and useful method of making the nail-coating assembly of Figures 5-7. Referringto. Figure; 8, a relatively long strip ,of ribbon 50 of; the nail-coating material is coated on one surface with adhesiveexceptfor thelongi-tudinal marginal portion 32 of 'the strip, The adhesiveysideof'the nail-coating strip 30 is-thenapplied to av similar but somewhat wider strip or. ribbon 34;of t he supporting material insuch manner that l-ongitudinal marginalpo-rtion 36. of the supporting strip 34extends laterally beyond the edge of marginal portion 325 of coating strip 30. The nail-coating and supportingstripsfitl and 34 are assembled'in the form of a continuous ribbon and the nail-coating assemblies are cut therefrom in any suitable manner such as by punchingorshearing. As indicated in Figure 9, the nail coating' assemblies areycut insuch manner. that their axes are perpendicular to; the-axis ofthe ribbon 3034 and thus the flaps, 17- and 26 areautomatically formedfrom. the

Thus, the-flaps 17 and 26 cooperate marginal portions 32 and 36 of the ribbons 30 and 34 respectively as theassemblies. are cut. The methodillus trated in Figures 8 and 9 provides the important advantage that it is capable of substantially continuous operation, since the adhesive may be applied to the nail-coating ribbon 30 continuously andtheribbon 30 can be affixed to the supporting strip 34 continuously.

From the foregoing description, it is apparent that the presentinverrtion provides an article and method capable of achieving the several objects set forth above The nailcoating blank described can be applied. to afingernail and shaped thereto in the matter of a very few seconds. The plastiefilm of Which'the blank. is composed maybe readily so selected as to possess a brilliant, color and'lustrous appearance. Since the preferred plastics for :thispurpose are both tough and flexible, the coating formed when these plastics are used does not chip, crack or flake off and will stand considerable abrasion without significant alteration of its lustrous. appearance. The coating is very resistant to. ordinary washing and will retain its position and unchanged appearance for an indefinite period. of time under ordinary wearing conditions. It may be removed, if desired, bybeing peeled off. or by the use of various, common organic solvents capable of dissolving the adhesive. For example, in the case of the specific adhesive mentioned, benzene or carbon tetrachloride may be used to remove the coating.

The nailrcoating assembly 24 of Figures 5-7 provides av convenient device for dispensing the nail-coating blank of the present invention, and'theflaps 17 and 26 permit ready removal of the blank from their support while at the. same time; preventing adhesive from coming in contact, with the fingers. of the person removing the blank from the support and applying it to aznail. The method of'making, the assembly described in connection with Figures 8. and 9 is susceptible of continuous operation andgthus provides for the production of the nail-coating assemblies at low unit cost.

Since many embodiments might be made of the present invention and since many changes might be made'in the embodiment disclosed herein, it is to be understood that the foregoing description is to be interpreted as illustrative-only and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

The method of makinga nail-coating assembly comprising a nail-coating blank having a pressure-sensitive adhesive on one surface thereof bymeans of which it isaffixed to asupport, which method comprises the steps ofiapplying to-one; surface of a; strip of nail-coating material; a layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive to form an adhesive band that extends lengthwise of said strip but is narrower-than saidstrip, thereby providing an adhesivefree bandonsaidstrip thatextends along said'strip'substantially parallel, to said adhesive band, applying the-adhesive side-0f said nail-coating stripto a supportingstrip wider; than said adhesive band to cause the nail-coating striptoadhere to the supporting strip and leave a nonadheringflap, andcutting the nail-coating strip thus assembledto form a series of nail-coating assemblies, the axes of the nail-coatingassemblies being substantially perpendicular to the long dimension of the assembled strips, wherebythe nail-coating blank of each assembly is provided with an adhesive-free flap to facilitate itsdetachment from the support.

References Cited in the file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,162,155 Calvin June 13, 1939 2,209,408 Litt July 30, 1940 2,234,657? Smaldone Mar. 11, 1941 2,239,040 Holmes Apr. 22, 1941 2,288,386" Belden June 30, 1942 2,607,356 Lewis Aug. 19, 1952 

